“It was bitterly cold outside, but there was an oven inside the carriage, making it very warm. It was as if there were two different worlds, separated from each other. At that time, I had just stepped foot into the Cultivation world. I was no longer a mortal, but a Cultivator. When I looked outside at the snow, I felt that I was looking at myself.
“The snow can only exist during the dead of winter. It may yearn for summer days, and for warmth, but if it nears them, it will melt. I am much the same. After striding forward into the Cultivation world, I could not turn my head back, nor could I ever experience the peace and tranquility I once had.” Of course, Meng Hao was thinking back to that year in the State of Zhao, when he had spent some time in the carriage with scholar Zheng Yong. 1
“I was once a mere scholar…. I remember how when I finally left my hometown. It was raining…. 2
“My life is like snow. I can only exist within winter. I may wish to return to the sunny days of the mortal world, but that is no longer me….
“Life is like a journey, filled with countless different experiences. Perhaps it is best to say that different experience create different scenery on that journey. If you experience bitterly cold wind, you will become snow. If you experience the blazing sun, then you become rain….
“The type of life you experience determines what type of person you will be. That is what makes life wonderful.”
Ke Jiusi looked at Meng Hao, and many thoughts floated up in his mind. He thought of Ke Yunhai, and thought of his own life. What he saw was everything that had happened to him, and this world.
“I’ve already been here for a long time, filled with nostalgia….”
True spirit Night sighed. Meng Hao’s words did not contain some great Dao. However, the words had touched it nonetheless. Before this moment, it would never have believed that some tiny Cultivator who could not stand up to a single blow from it, would be qualified to move it emotionally.
Zhixiang looked at Meng Hao, once again experiencing how extraordinary Meng Hao was. It made her think back to all her own experiences in life.
“To me, the Dao is a direction,” continued Meng Hao. “I think… that such a belief sprouted during that time in the snow. It led me… led me to a place far away.
“Many years later,” he murmured, thinking back to Pill Demon, “I kowtowed to my Master in a world of illusory reincarnation. During that life, I kowtowed three times. The kowtow of Innocence, the kowtow of the Roaming, and the kowtow of Sunset Gazing. At that time, I was enlightened. 3
“In that moment, I understood that life is a journey. Every turn in the path leads to new scenery. My footprints exist on that path, and as to whether they are deep or shallow, it doesn’t matter. All the decisions were mine to make.